My cat has never come into heat.

I am having a small problem with my cat, she is 13 months old as of yesterday and she has never come into heat. She is definately unspayed and I am getting worried that she may be infertile?

We have a male cat (castrated) and he showed a LOT of interest in her from the age of around 6 months to 11 months.. ONLY at night times when I was in the shower/bath would he start calling her and biting her neck and trying to do the deed. She would try and roll off him and start attacking him when he would do it.

We started letting her outside two months ago and since then his interest has dropped almost 100%, I never hear him scream or follow her or anything.

At first, she was obsessed with going outside, and would be so hyper about it, and then that stopped (obviously, because it wasn't new anymore) and now she does go out, but not for long... she's an in and out kinda girl.

I live in a small village, there are around 1000 people in my village and most of them are pretty... umm of a higher class than I and probably spay/castrate their pets, but we do live opposite a farm and lots of farmers keep unspayed cat families on their farms to keep the rats/mice/whatever down right?

My plan is, next time I am on holiday from work I am going to take her to the vets for a ultrasound scan, to see if she is all normal inside. Just to make sure.

She is a moggy (not a pure breed) her mother was a ginger tabby (short haired) and she is a calico? I think... not really sure. She's white with black and ginger splotches.

I thought she might have a weight problem, she is just under 3k, which is around 6.5lbs.

I knew she would probably not come into season last year, as she was born on march 31, and I thought she might skip this year because of her age. But it's now may, and she is definately not showing any signs at all.

Edit: Oh I forgot, she has started recently to try and breastfeed from herself? She will prop herself up on my bed, and start biting her nipples and moving her head from side to side, and then lick them, and then go to the otherside and do it there, and then back and forward... she does this multiple times a day and I have no idea what it means..

first, why is it so important for you to get her into heat? as you are not a breeder and you yourself admit she is a moggie.. I would think the natural would be to spay, like most of your neighbours already do, or else be happy she "seems" to be infertile...

Do you want a litter after her, or are you one of those who believe it is important to have had heat before spaying?

I want her to have one litter, because I believe that it is cruel to not let an animal have the chance to be able to have children at least once. I can guarantee they are going to go to good homes, as most of the people who have shown interest are either family, or long term friends of my mothers.

Just because she is a moggie, doesn't mean she shouldn't breed, i'm not after the money, and the fact there is a larger gene pool in a moggy than a pure-bred cat means there are going to be less health risks in the kittens in the future, compared to a pure-breed.

E.G maine coons and their heart problems, Persians and their kidneys.

Most of my other cats have been rescue, we've only had 3 kittens, 2 are still with us, the cat I posted above and my male cat. (one other got hit by a car and dumped on the vets doorstep... we lived next door to the vet at that time lol) <--- useful!!!

Moggies are no healthier than purebreds, it's just that breeders keep records and work problems out of their breeds.

Will you be doing any health tests on your girl before mating? At least a few basics HCM scan, FIV, FelV? And the boy she'll mate with?
It would be rather horrible for your girl to catch a deadly disease or pass one onto her offspring.

Really could be anything with your girl. Health issues, silent heats. It's most unusual for a girl not to have called by now.

Animals are not people. There is nothing cruel about spaying her before she has kittens, as she can't have the concept of having 'missed out' like people can.

Please get her spayed ASAP. Having kittens isn't risk-free either to her or your pocket - rearing kittens is an expensive business as they will go through mountains of cat litter and food.

You are right that there are some genetic problems in some breeds of cat, but non-pedigrees are by no means free of them, plus responsible breeders of pedigrees have their breeding animals screened as appropriate to the breed. For example, all Persians now have to be tested clear of PKD either because they themselves have been tested, or because their parents / grand parents etc. have been.

Your girl, OTOH, could mate with a chap with PKD (it's a relatively common spontaneous mutation), or who is predisposed to HCM, or who is FIV+ and/or FeLV+. All the genetic diseases in pedigrees exist in moggies, just in general at a lower incidence.

And whilst moggies usually give birth without problems, it's by no means unknown for them to need a section and in the middle of the night that doesn't come cheap.

I think the biting herself thing is completely different. She might be overgrooming, or she might have an irritation? When did you last deflea her? And is her worming up-to-date? If you are not sure how to check for fleas, comb her with a very fine comb on some white paper. If you get any specks out, moisten them. A red stain means they are flea dirt. If you get a live flea then you have a bigger problem - live fleas are the tip of the iceberg, there will be masses of eggs and larvae in the house.

2. This is a pro spay and neuter website. Please make sure to spay and neuter your cats. Unless you are a professional breeder and your cat is part of a professional breeding program, please educate yourself to the importance of spaying and neutering by the time your cat is 4-6 months old. If you take care of a feral colony, please make sure to do so responsibly by practicing TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release) protocols within the colony. http://www.thecatsite.com/a/spay-and-neuter-your-cats

Since this site is pro spay and neuter, you are not going to find many members that support your cat having a litter. Please read the article I linked to.

We use a multi defleaer and dewormer every month (advocate) and a pill once every 6 months and both my cats don't have fleas or worms. I'm not one of those owners who don't bother to pay to get it done.

I also brush them everyday, (they are short haired so it doesn't take long)

My cat is vaccinated so she can't get feline lukemia and I think the FIV, those are the standard yearly vaccinations she has.

I don't know who the male would be, there is one cat that sometimes hangs out (he's black and white and looks to be an outdoor cat) but i'm not sure if he's been done or not, and we've had a couple of cats get locked in the house because the catflap had been set wrong (it let cats in but not out).

I have the money to pay if she did need some emergency treatment, i'm not low on money. And we've been going to our vets for around 16 years, and i've worked for them before and we get discounts too.

It's been bugging me for a while that she hasn't been calling or exposing herself or spraying, sometimes she gets very skittish, especially when i've been at work all day but I don't know if that's because she hasn't spent her Energy while I have been out or because she got lonely.

And yes, I will get her spayed once it's over and done with because I am not going to recklessly breed from her constantly, it's one litter and then she is done.

Moggies are no healthier than purebreds, it's just that breeders keep records and work problems out of their breeds.

On a cat-by-cat basis I agree with this, but the overarching trend is that moggies do tend to be more hardy and healthier than purebreds. Regardless of how responsible or good a breeder is, moggies are going to be healthier due to genetic diversity. It's the same thing you see in human royal families. Everyone related to Queen Victoria has hemophilia because they are essentially inbred and have never had an influx of fresh, diverse DNA to overcome their issues. Over multiple generations a small problem can be compounded if the genes responsible don't mingle with stronger genes to counteract the issue. A normally recessive trait becomes dominant because none of the new DNA contains the usual dominant gene that would take over.

To the OP, you say you're not going to recklessly breed her, but if everyone who owned a female cat bred that cat, the population of cats would double (if you assume 1/2 cats are female and an average litter of 3 - 4). There are two ways the cat population can explode: one person being especially irresponsible and breeding a cat as often as possible, or tons of people thinking along the same lines as you. It's honestly whatever you prefer to do, but I'm just showing you a bigger picture where there are millions of already-living cats in shelters who will most likely be put down in exchange for the kittens you want your cat to have. You should make sure you really believe a cat should have one litter, or if you simply want a glaring (that means clowder, or large group) of kittens in your house. If it's the latter, many shelters have pregnant cats they will foster out that would achieve the same results. Again, I am not in your shoes and I don't know your reasoning, but the vast majority of people who come here wanting to breed their moggies really just want to experience taking care of newborn kittens, which is definitely not a valid reason since you're essentially sentencing shelter cats to euthanasia in order to see some cute kittens.

Everyone related to Queen Victoria has hemophilia because they are essentially inbred and have never had an influx of fresh, diverse DNA to overcome their issues. Over multiple generations a small problem can be compounded if the genes responsible don't mingle with stronger genes to counteract the issue. A normally recessive trait becomes dominant because none of the new DNA contains the usual dominant gene that would take over.

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Sorry but that is simply not true. None of the current British royal family, who are all descended from Queen Victoria, have haemophillia.

Queen Victoria seems to have been the recipient of a spontaneous mutation and hence was a carrier. There is no previous record of the disease in the royal family. Two of her daughters were known carriers, and that's how it got into the royal families of Europe. One of her sons had haemophilia, her other 6 children were neither affected (sons) or carriers (daughters). One of her grand-daughters was a carrier and married into the Russian royal family. We don't know if any of her daughters (Victoria's great grand daughters) were carriers as they were killed before producing children of their own, but her son Alexei was affected and in his mothere's desparation she fell into the clutches of Rasputin.

If you want an example of royal in-breeding leading to deleterious genes building up in the gene pool, the Spanish Habsburgs are a far better example. And this is exactly what can happen in a isolated free-roaming colony of cats. Queens will freely mate with their father, brothers, sons, cousins, nephews, uncles and so on. There are plenty of kittens with genetic problems born in such colonies, but Darwinism takes care of them.

You are spot-on, however, about the results if everyone lets their cat have one litter.

I live in a small village, there are around 1000 people in my village and most of them are pretty... umm of a higher class than I and probably spay/castrate their pets, but we do live opposite a farm and lots of farmers keep unspayed cat families on their farms to keep the rats/mice/whatever down right?

Quote:

Originally Posted by rad65

On a cat-by-cat basis I agree with this, but the overarching trend is that moggies do tend to be more hardy and healthier than purebreds. Regardless of how responsible or good a breeder is, moggies are going to be healthier due to genetic diversity.

Rad65, let's take our OP's case as an example here. They say they live in a small village and opposite a farm and lots of farmers keep unspayed cat families on their farms. Do you think those farmers go and make sure their cat families that are left unspayed outdoors do not inbreed? That they perhaps import new cats or go and find a cat of different lines from the other side of the island so their moggies would have genetic diversity?

Moggies tend to be very inbred, at least in island countries and other countries that only have small farm towns that have cats running around unspayed from generation to generation instead of lots of random strays running around in the cities. They are way more inbred than an average pedigreed cat. They do not test their cats from any hereditary diseases either.

I obviously strongly advice the OP to spay the cat instead of breeding her, specially now that she seems to have some issues (either mental or physical, the 'breastfeeding from herself'). Do you know anything of the cat's background, is she from a farm or somewhere else?

To her not being on heat, my British Longhair queen was 14months old when she had her first heat and she doesn't have breeding issues, some cats just mature slower.

OP: I'd take your cat to the vet first, just to make sure she is healthy enough to bear a litter. Especially true if she in fact has never gone into heat. She may have malformed female parts that would prevent conception or cause her to miscarry.

Although I agree with the other posters: given how many kittens there are in shelters, I'd adopt one and that kitten can live high on the hog--and mice.

Our vets do not even carry these vaccinations, they are pretty much useless so if someone for some odd reason wants to have their cat vaccinated, the vaccines need to be specially ordered for that one person (cat).

There is additional aspect of breeding familys moggie. Your cat, TS, IS a beauty, and surely also a very nice cat. I understand your relatives and friends would like to have a kitten after her, a copy of her so to speak.

The trouble is, with an unkown father, they will be very diverse. You can get almost every combination... And you will.

Even if you find a healthy, nice tom who is look alike her, the diversity will be lesser, but they will probably differ from mom AND each other they too...

In a pure breed you could expect a serie of almost copies. In a moggie - they will almost surely be more or less different.

On a cat-by-cat basis I agree with this, but the overarching trend is that moggies do tend to be more hardy and healthier than purebreds. Regardless of how responsible or good a breeder is, moggies are going to be healthier due to genetic diversity.

Mmm actually moggies are often very inbred, as already stated in other posts. A quick glance at the health section doesn't show many sick pedigree's either, and there are lots of members with pedigree cats.

Keep in mind that there are health risks involved in breeding and pregnancy, and your cats small size could possibly increase risk or could be due to genetic issues she could pass on to kittens.
Also it is very unlikely her offspring will look like her as Calicos rarely give birth to Calicos and it isn't easy to breed for that coloration even if you are picking the male carefully...

It being 'kitten season' I am sure there are plenty of kittens who are already out there homeless, why not just offer to foster some orphans or mom and kittens for a shelter instead of bringing more kittens into the world?
If every cat owner let their cats have "just one litter" the overpopulation would be immense. Please also keep in mind that going through heats and pregnancy increases a cat's risk for certain cancers.

We started letting her outside two months ago and since then his interest has dropped almost 100%, I never hear him scream or follow her or anything.

Maybe she already got pregnant. When a cat is pregnant she usually doesn't go into heat anymore and that might also account for the drop in interest from your male.

About the blabla about a cats right to procreate; even if you believe that, while cats are being put to sleep in shelters shouldn't their right to live be more important and come before the fun of having a litter ?

When your cats has her kittens, don't allow her to go outside anymore, recently I've seen several litters of orphaned kittens because mom disappeared or got run over. Don;t seperate the kittens from mom until they are 12 weeks old. Yes, they will become a handful, but you choose this so please see it through to the end for the kittens sake.